VOLUNTEER

Join the 1,650-plus passionate Forest Park volunteers who help make this park one of the best public parks in the world.

Forest Park - St Louis MO - Est. 1876

A Passion for the Park

In 2016, 1,650-plus individuals gave their time, talents and energies to support and provide stewardship for Forest Park. That’s 14,184 hours of service, valued at an astonishing $335,000! How can you help?

Land Management

Annual Honeysuckle Removal Day: Honeysuckle, and other invasive plant species, negatively impact native Missouri flora. Every year, we host a large volunteer event to tackle a specific area and remove as much honeysuckle as possible. 2017's event will take place on Saturday, October 28. Click here for details.

Park Project Days: Episodic group volunteer opportunities are periodically scheduled based on time of year, group size, age, abilities and project needs in the Park. Park Project Days are primarily scheduled on weekday mornings between the hours of 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., spring through fall. Weekend opportunities are very limited. Click here for an overview of this opportunity.

Flora Conservancy: A 501c3 organization that partners with the City of St. Louis Parks Department offers horticulture volunteer opportunities in Forest Park on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. 9:00-11:00 a.m. For more information visit this page or call 314.289.5323.

KWAG: The Kennedy Woods Advisory Group is a made up of a small but dedicated team of volunteers that began native restoration work in the savanna near Kennedy Forest in 1999. Today, the group is re-energizing under the guidance of the Forest Park Forever Park Ecologist and Nature Reserve Team. We are looking for additional volunteer assistance for two opportunity tracks:

Once-a-Month Small Group Native Restoration Project Team; and

Episodic (up to 2 projects a year) Native Restoration Projects.

Both KWAG volunteer opportunities will primarily take place on weekends (we are targeting the first Saturday of each month). Volunteers must be 18 years or older for the once-a-month opportunity and students under 18, with parental supervision and involvement, may be considered for some of the episodic projects. Each episodic project will be evaluated and a minimum age requirement will be clearly posted on the individual project sign up form, along with date, time, location and project overview.

Volunteers who complete an application, for either opportunity, will be contacted by a Forest Park Forever representative for follow-up. To sign up, complete one of the applications at the top of this page.

Fundraising Events / Special Events

Events: Forest Park Forever hosts several member appreciation events and fundraising events that require volunteer assistance. These opportunities are generally 4 to 5 hours in duration, afternoons, evenings or weekends.

Visitor Services / Public Programs

Information Desk: This position is a partnership with Explore St. Louis (the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission). These front-line volunteers welcome and provide valuable information to visitors and park users. Familiarity with Forest Park and St. Louis attractions/region required. Shifts are 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. daily and volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. For more information, please contact Karen Meirink, Manager of Visitor and Volunteer Services – Explore St. Louis, 314.992.0678, email at kmeirink@explorestlouis.com or download a volunteer application from the Explore St. Louis website.

Park Ambassadors: These volunteers provide mobile visitor services in the Park. Duties include distributing maps, giving directions, providing assistance with the Forest Park Trolley and serving as a reporting mechanism for emergencies, park hazards and maintenance issues. Familiarity with the Park is required. Shifts: Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, late mornings and early afternoons, spring through fall.

Park Tours: Volunteers lead hour-long walking tours originating from the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center. Tour guides receive in-depth training on Park history, current events and various points of interest. Walking tours are scheduled spring through fall, weekdays & weekends. A second tour guide opportunity involves serving as a “hop-on bus guide” for groups and organizations that provide their own bus/shuttle transportation. These volunteers receive training and a detailed “tour script” to use as a tour template. Hop-on tours are scheduled based on volunteer availability.